Deadlines

I "chatted" with the publisher. It was enlightening.

It was a pleasant enough conversation at first, but when she said, "and now for something unpleasant," I knew it was time to find my backbone.

My heart was racing, but I managed to blurt out, "I won't be done by April! I won't be done by May, and I doubt I'll be done by June. July seems more realistic."

There was a silence at the other end.

And then she let me know why she had been "rough" on me during the last few communications.

Back while she was visiting* in the Fall, I told her about my research (not the hellish text, but my real academic work). I mentioned that I would be doing some data collection during this sabbatical semester. Apparently that was enough to set her off. How dare I work on anything else while she "owns" me and I owe her a text! I had mentioned April as a possible month to send a survey. That is why she decided that my new deadline was April 1 and commenced to make my life hell with snide emails and veiled threats.

As it turns out, I am not personally collecting data this semester. I have a graduate student who is starting the data collection** while I do the literature review.*** He and I meet every two weeks to check in, but until the data collection is complete in June, this isn't a big time sink for me. As soon as I told her that I will not be collecting data, she relaxed and was pleasant again. She is a control freak, isn't she? It isn't just me is it?

My real deadline appears to be this summer which is what I originally thought and is what I can live with. It is going to be tough, but I can make it if I continue at my current pace. I didn't ask for a new contract (to be honest, I blanked on it), but in looking at my contract again, I think I am safe. Plus, as J has pointed out many times, they have invested too much time into developing this text to drop me now.

I feel like I can breathe again. I don't mind working to deadlines when they are realistic. However, when they are unrealistic, I'm anxious and less productive.

I don't really feel like I found my backbone, but I'm glad I looked for it. I feel like I got closer to it than I've been in a while.


*Torturing
**Tedious work that he enjoys. Something is wrong with that boy.
***Tedious work that I enjoy. Something is wrong with me, too.